More Layoffs Announced, Including 500 At NBC, Citibank, And One Huge Obama Donor’s Medical Company

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Update: Additional layoff announcements have been added to this story at the end of the post.

TheBlaze is continuing to monitor the ever-growing list of companies that have announced layoffs or closings in the wake of President Obama’s re-election.

Wednesday was another tough day on Wall Street. And the stock market seems to reflect the mood of the country’s business community. Since last Tuesday, we have seen a decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 13,244 to the close today of 12,570 — a loss of over 774 points in one week’s time.

Image: Yahoo Finance

In just the first three days of this week, we have seen an alarming rise in announcements from some very large corporations like, NBC, Citibank, Xerox, and most of the Atlantic City Casinos. Also among the latest to announce downsizing, many municipalities are cutting back staff in service areas like hospice care, housing for domestic abuse victims, and even fire departments.

In some cases, the companies have cited the President’s second term and the tax implications from Obamacare as reason for this action, while others have tied their cutbacks to some of the administration’s restrictive regulations. And there are others on the latest list that may have been actions taken due to bad business practices or the companies were “collateral damage” — businesses that were hurt when larger operations in their area cut back or closed.

One of the biggest medical device manufacturers in the world, Stryker will close their facility in Orchard Park, New York, eliminating 96 jobs in December. Worse, they plan on countering the medical device tax in Obamacare by slashing 5% of their global workforce - an estimated 1,170 positions.

For the record, Breitbart is reporting that Jon Stryker (heir to the Stryker fortune) has strong ties to the Obama Campaign. His massive donations put him among the biggest donors to the President and the Democrats:

Stryker, a member of the Forbes 400 list, was one of the top five donors to the Obama campaign. Having donated $2 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC, Stryker also gave $66,000 in contributions to Obama and the Democrat Party.

Here is the list of domestic layoffs compiled by DailyJobCuts.com since Monday of this week:

In a round of year-end belt tightening, NBCUniversal is cutting about 500 employees, or about 1.5% of its total workforce. The cuts are distributed throughout the media company, which boasts nearly 30,000 employees, according to a person close to the situation who asked not to be identified discussing the sensitive topic.

ATLANTIC CITY — While gaming numbers in our area have been sluggish in recent months, the situation has intensified since hurricane sandy, and now more and more casino workers are looking at a cut in hours or even partial or permanent lay offs.

The Smithfield, Va.-based company said layoffs will start at the Portsmouth plant in January and it will close at the end of March. The first layoffs at the Smithfield Packing Co. facility will involve about 120 workers, with more than 400 workers affected by the time plant is closed, said Jeff Gough, Smithfield’s senior vice president for human resources. Employees have been offered transfer opportunities.

Layoff notices starting going out this week to the engine-maker‘s white-collar workers at its headquaters in Columbus. Job cuts are also expected at Cummins‘ three southern Indiana plants: the Fuel Systems Plant and MidRange Engine Plant in Columbus and the Engine plant in Seymour.

Three years after acquiring Solel Solar Systems in Beit Shemesh, which produces thermo-solar energy systems, Siemens AG (NYSE: SI; DAX: SIE) is firing about 140 of the company’s 430 employees. In contrast to six months ago when 100 employees were fired, mainly production staff, the latest round of layoffs includes engineering and development personnel, following the company’s decision to close down several major projects.

The world of Twinkies and Wonder Bread threatened to crumble Monday, as a nationwide strike continued and Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt owner of the historic products, said it would close three bakeries, eliminating 627 jobs.

Gamesa Energy has issued layoff notices to more than half of its Cambria Township work force. Company officials say 92 of the plant’s 154 workers are expected to be out of work at the plant by early next year.

In a news release, WFBMC said about half of the layoffs will come from “vacant, temporary and contract labor positions, as well as normal attrition and retirements.” As many as 475 current employees — about 3.5 percent of the company’s workforce — will get pink slips. While the staff reductions won’t be complete until next summer, 76 employees are being laid off this week.

The 277 employees are to be laid off between Jan. 6 and May 26. The workers include 77 field engineers, 49 superintendents, 44 design engineers and 22 welding field engineers. The employees are not represented by a union. The layoffs are expected to be permanent.

For the third time in the last four months Tooele County has announced a reduction of employees as the Tooele County Commission and county department heads scramble to reduce expenses to meet an unforeseen reduction in revenue.

Glens Falls Hospital announced Tuesday morning it is eliminating 29 jobs and reducing five other employees to part-time status, as part of a cost-reduction program being blamed on “declining reimbursement levels and other economic challenges.”

The fire chief’s decision to close the station at Savanne Road and Little Bayou Black Drive is the first of several steps intended to make up the money that will be lost when a federal grant expires in 2014. Other planned cuts include laying off seven employees by Jan. 1, eliminating overtime and reducing the number of calls that its trucks respond to each year.

Raleigh-based Lulu, which provides self-publishing services around the world, has made layoffs at its headquarters and other locations. The company is owned by Red Hat co-founder Bob Young. Nine positions were cut in Raleigh and an undisclosed number of positions will be affected at other operations, Lulu said.

A study by public safety consultants Berkshire Advisors Inc. recommended a number of changes to improve efficiency in the Hamilton Fire Department, including increasing the workweek from 48 to 52 hours. This would reduce staff by nine firefighters and save the city $825,000 in overtime costs, according to the study. The city is projected to spend $1.1 million in overtime costs in 2012.

TOLEDO, Ohio -Dana Corporation is warning its employees that there could be a large number of layoffs on the way. The Washington Times reports that Dana will likely pay $24 million over the next six years in healthcare expenses and that cost is driving the layoffs.

Peter Albert, vice president for external affairs at the Retreat, said management decided to cut positions after reviewing third quarter revenues and expenditures. “Projecting out the fourth quarter, the year would come in at a loss,” he said.

As the rough parameters of Otsego County’s 2013 budget take shape, it appears that about 10 county jobs will be eliminated and some public services will be reduced, county Treasurer Dan Crowell said Tuesday.

World Media Enterprises Inc., the division created earlier this year by Berkshire Hathaway after it purchased most Media General Inc. newspaper properties, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, today announced it is eliminating 105 jobs, including 33 related to its decision to shutter the News & Messenger in Manassas.

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - More job cuts at GE Healthcare in South Burlington– though how many is unclear. The Vermont location specializes in developing information technology for the health care industry. About 850 people worked there when GE bought out IDX Systems in 2005. There have been several job cuts since then, including at least two others earlier this year.

TheBlaze appreciates all notices of layoffs not listed here. Please forward links to news stories about these actions to: mopelka@theblaze.com